The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872: The History of 19th Century America's Most Notorious Fraud
ISBN: 9781537731162
*Includes pictures
*Includes contemporary accounts of the hoax written by victims and newspapers
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents
“[T]he most gigantic and barefaced swindle of the age.” – The San Francisco Chronicle’s description of the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872
It’s only natural that people have always been attracted to get-rich-quick schemes, and in spite of their best efforts, almost everyone has been tempted at one time or another by a promise of riches that can be obtained with little or no work. The attraction is even stronger during periods when ordinary people have indeed struck it rich, particularly the California Gold Rush and the Yukon Gold Rush in the mid-19th century and late 19th century respectively. Having heard stories of men who went west with nothing and returned as millionaires, people were more inclined than ever before to believe that “there’s gold (or silver or diamonds) in them thar hills.”
It would take decades of research to fully understand that most of the miners in the West did not strike it rich, and that those who fared best were mining companies and those who sold goods to miners. But regardless, fraudsters also understood that the best way to make a profit off the gold rush was to fleece the people trying to find the gold, and before long a large number of shysters hoped to make their own pot of riches in a far less honorable way. As Patricia O’Toole, author of Money and Morals in America: A History, noted, “I see the Diamond Hoax as one in a long line of scams made possible by the fact that the United States truly was a land of opportunity. Many a legitimate fortune seemed to be made overnight, so it was particularly easy for a con artist to convince a gullible American that he too could wake up a millionaire.”
*Includes contemporary accounts of the hoax written by victims and newspapers
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents
“[T]he most gigantic and barefaced swindle of the age.” – The San Francisco Chronicle’s description of the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872
It’s only natural that people have always been attracted to get-rich-quick schemes, and in spite of their best efforts, almost everyone has been tempted at one time or another by a promise of riches that can be obtained with little or no work. The attraction is even stronger during periods when ordinary people have indeed struck it rich, particularly the California Gold Rush and the Yukon Gold Rush in the mid-19th century and late 19th century respectively. Having heard stories of men who went west with nothing and returned as millionaires, people were more inclined than ever before to believe that “there’s gold (or silver or diamonds) in them thar hills.”
It would take decades of research to fully understand that most of the miners in the West did not strike it rich, and that those who fared best were mining companies and those who sold goods to miners. But regardless, fraudsters also understood that the best way to make a profit off the gold rush was to fleece the people trying to find the gold, and before long a large number of shysters hoped to make their own pot of riches in a far less honorable way. As Patricia O’Toole, author of Money and Morals in America: A History, noted, “I see the Diamond Hoax as one in a long line of scams made possible by the fact that the United States truly was a land of opportunity. Many a legitimate fortune seemed to be made overnight, so it was particularly easy for a con artist to convince a gullible American that he too could wake up a millionaire.”
New World Order by A. Ralph Epperson
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Product details
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ISBN-10: 0961413514
ISBN-13: 978-0961413514
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History of Edom and Khazaria: The Other Israel
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Product details
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ISBN-10: 1602810206
ISBN-13: 978-1602810204
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A HISTORY OF TIGRINYA LITERATURE
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Everything You Need to Know About The Prince
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